[19:1] Zi Zhang said: “The shi who faced with danger can abandon his life; who seeing an opportunity for gain, thinks of fairness; who at rituals is reverent and who at funerals is sorrowful: he is worth something.”

[19-2] 子張曰。執德不弘、信道不篤、焉能爲有 焉能爲亡 。

[19:2] Zi Zhang said: “Keeping one's virtue without extending it; trusting the Way without enriching it. What can you gain? And what can you get rid of?”

One replied, “Associate with the capable and keep away from the incapable.”

Zi Zhang said, “This is different from what I have heard. The noble man venerates the worthy but accepts everyone. He praises the good and pities the incapable. Now if I were a worthy, whom should I not accept? If I am unworthy, shall people cast me aside? How can you just push people away like this?”

[19-4] 子夏曰。雖小道、必有可觀者焉。致遠恐泥、是以君子不爲也。

[19:4] Zi Xia said, “If somewhat has just a small attainment of the way, it can be observed. But if he tries to extend it too far, it will lose its functioning. Therefore, the noble man does not do this.”

[19-5] 子夏曰。日知其所亡、月無忘其所能、可謂好學也已矣。。

[19:5] Zi Xia said: “Someone who is aware every day of what he lacks, and every month does not forget what he has developed, can be called ‘a lover of learning.’”

[19:9] Zi Xia said: “The noble man has three appearances. From afar, he appears majestic; close up, he seems warm; listening to his speech, he seems polished.”

[19-10] 子夏曰。君子信而後勞其民。未信、則以爲厲己也。信而後諫。未信、則以爲謗己也。

[19:10] Zi Xia said: “After the ruler has the trust of the people, they will toil for him. If he doesn't have their trust, they will regard him as oppressive. Only after gaining his trust will they criticize him openly. If he doesn't trust them, he will take their criticism as backstabbing. ”

[19-11] 子夏曰。大德不踰閑。小德出入可也。

[19:11] Zi Xia said: “As long as you don't transgress the norm of great virtue, you may utilize small virtues freely.”

[19:12] Zi Yu said: “The disciples of Zi Xia can clean the floor, respond to questions, and come forward and retire, but these are trivial matters — when it comes to the essentials, they are lost. Why is it so?” Zi Xia, hearing of it said, “What? Isn't this a bit of an exaggeration? In the Way of the Noble Man, those who advance first are summoned, and those who are late fall away. 56It is like the various plants that are categorized by their species. How can the Way of the Noble Man be deceptive? Who, but a sage, can both take the initiative and bring matters to their completion?”

[19-13] 子夏曰。仕而優則學。學而優則仕。

[19:13] Zi Xia said: “After you have accomplished your job, then study. After you have accomplished your studies, then get a job.”

[19:17] Ceng Zi said: “I have heard this from our master: ‘If a man has not yet fully experienced himself, he will when his parents die.’”

[19-18] 曾子曰。吾聞諸夫子：孟莊子之孝也、其他可能也、其不改父之臣與父之政、是難能也。』 。

[19:18] Ceng Zi said: “I heard our Master say, ‘In other matters, the filial piety of Ming Zhong Zi was nothing special. But his running his government without changing his father's ministers or systems— this was quite difficult.’”

[19-19] 孟氏使陽膚爲士師、問於曾子。曾子曰。上失其道、民散久矣。如得其情、則哀矜而勿喜。

[19:19] Yangfu, having been appointed Minister of Justice by the Meng clan, consulted with Ceng Zi. Tseng said, “When those in power lose their sense of justice, the people will scatter from them, and it will be a long time before they return. When you are aware of their suffering, then you should be sorrowful, never joyful.”

[19-20] 子貢曰。紂之不善、不如是之甚也。是以君子惡居下流、天下之惡皆歸焉。

[19:20] Zi Gong said, “Zhou could not really have been that bad. Therefore the Noble Man dislikes residing in the lower reaches, where all the evil of the world accumulates.”

[19-21] 子貢曰。君子之過也、如日月之食焉。過也、人皆見之。更也、人皆仰之。

[19:21] Zi Gong said: “The faults of the noble man are like the eclipses of the sun and moon— everyone sees them. But when he corrects them, everyone looks up to him.”

Zi Gong said, “The Way of King Wen and King Wu (the legendary sage-kings of antiquity) has not yet sunk into the ground. The Worthies have assimilated the major points, and the less-than-worthy have assimilated the minor points. There is no place where the Way of Wen and Wu does not exist, so how could the Master not learn it? Why would he need to get it from a certain teacher?”

[19:23] Shusun Wushu, addressing the major officers of his court, said: “Zi Gong is superior to Confucius.”

Zifu Jingbo told this to Zi Gong, who commented, “Let me use a simile of a castle and its wall. My wall is only shoulder high, which you may look over and see the desirables that lie inside. My Master's wall is several tens of feet high and if you can't find the door and enter by it, you will not see the beauty of its ancestral temple, nor the splendor of its hundred officers. Those who find the door are few indeed. Are not my Master's words even more difficult to grasp?”

[19:24] Shusun Wushu's disparaged Confucius. Zi Gong said, “It is ridiculous talking this way. Confucius cannot be slandered. The virtue of other men is like a small hill, which can be climbed over. Confucius is like the sun and the moon. There is no way they can be climbed over. Even if you want to cut yourself off from the sun and moon, how can you hurt them? It is easy to see that Wushu does not know value.”

[19:25] Chen Ziqin addresses Zi Gong, saying, “You are too humble. How could Zhongni (Confucius) be more worthy than you?” Zi Gong said, “By a single word the Noble Man shows his intelligence, and by a single word he shows his ignorance. Hence, one must be careful when choosing one's words. The level of the Master cannot be reached, just as the heavens cannot be ascended to using a stairway. If our master had attained control of the state or clan, it would have been as it is said: ‘By his establishment they took their positions; when he led, they followed; due to his gentleness, they came; when he motivated them, they worked in harmony. In life he was glorious, in death he is mourned.’ Who could attain to such a level?”